


Goodnight Moon

by MarvelousMusings



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angsty Characters Being Angsty, Established Relationship, F/M, Pregnancy, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, a little angsty, but also like, but mostly just hella fluff, crackship, cute characters being cute, i don't know what this is tbh i just got really into my feelings at like 3 in the morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21715348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelousMusings/pseuds/MarvelousMusings
Summary: Shuri can't stand being holed up in Wakanda - especially while Bucky is out on a mission.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Shuri
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	Goodnight Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this fell out of my drunk brain at about three in the morning. I was in my feelings, okay?  
> Let me know what you think. Comments and kudos give my writer brain the fuel it requires. XD

If there was one thing Shuri had relied on in the past several months, it had been the knowledge that Bucky Barnes ran like clockwork. He rolled out of bed at the exact same time every morning. He would walk down to the newsstand for the morning paper at 7 - 8 o’clock on weekends. And he took his meals at precisely the same time everyday. For all intents and purposes the man lived and entirely mundane life while off-duty. Which is why, after he’d missed his promised 2p.m. arrival from New York, she’d began to worry.

As the clock chimed four, she’d began growing restless. 

And by six she’d become downright frantic, making her way down to her lab to put some of the unwanted nervous energy to use. Shuri sent her team home at the usual time, just as the sun was beginning to lull beneath the horizon. As soon as their work was complete, hers began. Another few hours of tinkering found her working her way through new technologies to outfit Bucky with. Heat sensors. Landmine detectors. Who knew if aliens had access to landmines - certainly not Shuri - but you could never be _too_ safe, she wagered.

She could _just_ feel her eyes beginning to droop when the doors to the lab swung wide and Bucky came teetering in, exhaustion evident on his face, “I’m home,” he grumbled with a half-hearted smile, flopping into a nearby chair with a groan.

Even as the immense relief of having him home washed over her, Shuri couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit annoyed, “You’re _late._ ” She took hold of his outstretched hands and allowed him to pulled her in close for a quick kiss.

“Got tied up at the office.”

“You should have _called._ I was worried,” Shuri grumbled, taking him in from head to toe. He looked as if he’d cleaned up hastily - like he’d looked worse for wear no more than a few hours prior. The gash across his brow was telling as well. Even though she knew it would be healed and gone by the next day it still left her with a lump in her throat and lead in her stomach, “You have to be more careful,” she chided, forcing a smile before turning away and motioning for him to follow, “I’ve got something new I’ve been working on. I want you to give it a try-”

“Maybe we could just take a minute, Doll. Sit. Tell me about your day,” Bucky said, shrugging off his jacket and laying it over the back of one of the many swiveling chairs that peppered the floor.

Clearly nonplussed by Bucky’s interest in a catch-up, Shuri continued on, “My day was fine. It was spent putting together this prototype. I have developed quite a few new capabilities for that arm of yours. I just need to upload the software. Come.”

Stunned into cooperation, Bucky made his way to the examination table, taking a seat and shirking his shirt, “You alright, Doll?” he finally brought himself to ask, after a solid twenty minutes of silent tinkering, “You seem awfully-”

“I’m alright,” she insisted, though her eyes never left her work, “What makes you think I’m not _fine?_ ”

“You just seem pretty...tightly-wound,” he said, pursing his lips as he watched her work.

She shook her head, screwing in a piece of hardware with a particularly rough hand that nearly knocked him off the table, “Just some pent up energy,” she said, trying to keep her voice even, even as she gritted her teeth, “Idle hands and all that. Especially now that I’m only _permitted_ to work _remotely-_ ”

“There it is,” he said with a nod, “Why don’t you close me up and we can talk about it.”

Even as she huffed out a sigh, she began fissuring the arm’s plating back into place, “There’s nothing to talk about. You know how I feel about working from _here_.”

“And _you_ know how _I_ feel about you being out in the field right now,” he countered, “Too many things could go wrong.”

“Buck, every time you leave I worry about you. I worry that you won’t come back in one piece,” Shuri sighed, letting her hands come to rest at the back of his neck, “I’m sorry. I know,” she shook her head, “I know that it’s your job. I know it means a lot to you, but...”

“You ain’t gotta be scared for me, Doll,” he insisted with a weak smile, cupping her face between his hands, “I can take care of myself. And I’ve got a good team behind me. You know that.”

She hummed, her eyes falling closed as she leaned into his palm, “You’re right,” she conceded, “I just don’t like you doing all of this _avenging_ when I can’t be out there with you.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Bucky let himself sink further into the table, peering down through tired eyes, “Would you feel better if I was on recon?”

Shuri’s eyes went wide as she moved to cover his hands with her own, “I couldn’t ask you to do that, Buck. No.”

“Hey,” he said with a smile, “If it would make you feel better, I’ll tell Sam tomorrow. No more missions. Not until you’re back out there with me.”

Guilt and relief swelled within her in equal measure as she let out a breath, “You won’t be miserable?”

“Nope,” Bucky popped the ‘ _p_ ’ assuredly as he sank back, “It’ll be good to be able to be _home_ for more than a few days at a time, actually. I’ll finally be able to get around to working on that nursery we’ve been talkin’ about.”

Shuri couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as she let her hands slip to his knees, “You know we have staff here that can worry about that.”

“Or,” he countered with a grin, “you and I could get to it ourselves.”

*

Though it had started off with a valiant team effort, after an hour or so the build had devolved into Shuri resting on a rocking chair in the corner and Bucky, covered nearly head to toe in paint, scrabbled across the floor for pieces from the half-built crib.

“You know, there’s no shame in admitting defeat,” Shuri said, “I could call a carpenter tomorrow.” She tried her best to hold in a laugh at his expense as he struggled with a hammer and two long wooden slabs.

“No. No, I can do it,” Bucky panted, nostrils flaring in frustration as the bones of the crib seemingly fell apart in his hands for the umpteenth time, “ _Dammit._ ”

“Buck,” she mused, plucking the hammer from his hand on the upswing and setting it off to the side, “You have _never_ been very crafty. Let’s go to bed. It’s _late._ ”

With an exasperated huff, Bucky heaved himself to his feet, grabbing Shuri’s hands to help her from her chair, “Alright, fine. I surrender.”

Neither one of them had truly realized how exhausted they were until they’d made their way through the adjoining door and into the master. Shuri was the first to flop down onto the bed, fully clothed, grunting as she kicked off her shoes, “You’d better unpack that work bag before you go to sleep. I _just_ got over morning sickness; the last thing I need is for the smell of week-old battle-worn socks to jumpstart _that_ again.”

He shook his head with an amused smile, “Yes, ma’am,” he murmured, dragging his over-packed bag into the closet to separate out its contents.

Shuri took the time to make her way around the room to her chest of drawers where she pulled out a set of pajamas and changed before letting her hair down and shimmying her way back between the sheets, resting against the headboard. A moment later, Bucky came bursting from the closet with a small _something_ clutched in his hand, “Got you these while I was out,” he said, kneeling on the edge of the bed as he handed over a massive bag of M&Ms.

“ _Yes,_ ” Shuri all but squealed, ripping them from his hand with a grin and tearing the bag open, “I’ve been craving cheap American chocolate. Thank you,” she murmured, leaning in for a quick kiss before digging in.

“One more thing,” Bucky said, scooting in close and sliding a thin little book into her lap.

“ _Goodnight Moon,_ ” she murmured around a mouthful of M&Ms, flipping it over in her hands with interest, “I don’t know it.”

“After our debrief at the compound, I went into the city to see my niece. I haven’t been so good at keepin’ up with ‘em since livin’ in Wakanda. I wanted to see how they were. We got to talking about you and about the baby and she insisted I take that. Apparently _every baby needs Goodnight Moon read to ‘em,_ ” he said, in a passable enactment of the niece who - admittedly - Shuri had met only once before.

“Well you’d better get to it, then.”

“Hm?”

She let out an exasperated laugh, shoving the book into Bucky’s hands, “Reading to him is an important part of his development. So the books say. _Read it.”_

With a content smile, Bucky flopped back, letting the little green book rest against his chest as he flipped it open to the first page, “ _In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon..._ ”

As Shuri listened, her eyes began to droop. She cursed herself as a yawn made its way out of her mouth, but continued to card encouraging fingers through Bucky’s hair as he read on, her other hand resting absently on her protruding belly.

“ _Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere,_ ” Bucky finished, clapping the book shut and let it rest at his side as he rolled onto his stomach to face Shuri as she let out an uneasy breath, “You alright?” he asked, looking her over with concern.

She shook her head with a little laugh, “I’m alright. _He_ must really like the sound of your voice.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?”

“He’s kicking around in there. Come here; give me your hand.”

Without waiting for him to process, she took his hand and placed it on the spot where the kicks had originated, just in time for him to get a solid pelt to the hand. His eyes warmed and crinkled as he beamed, “That’s my guy,” he stuttered out.

Shuri couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so downright gleeful and it made her heart flutter, “You are going to be a wonderful father, Bucky Barnes.”

“You’re gonna be a pretty great ma yourself.”

And, after one more kiss, the little family settled in for the night - content as could be.


End file.
